Christmas

I haven't posted in a couple weeks and so much can happen with a newborn in that amount of time!

Claire is doing so well. She almost seems like a different baby than she was a couple of weeks ago. I think the Zantac is helping her. She is not a huge fan, probably because it is peppermint flavored. Seriously- who makes baby medicine peppermint flavored??? You'd think they would be able to give it no flavor or even milk flavor. She seems a lot more comfortable than before. She doesn't scream for hours, her tummy isn't hard all of the time, and she doesn't arch her back when she eats as much.

She seems to change every day. I am glad I take so many pictures because she changes so quickly! She is definitely filling out her newborn clothes now. I put a 0-3 month sleeper on her last night and it's quite large. I know it is common for babies to have poop "blow-outs" where it goes up their back... Claire doesn't have those very often (only twice I think) but she has pee "blow-outs" all the time! Almost daily! I don't know how she manages to get so much pee up her back, but it causes me to do her laundry frequently! All of her newborn sleepers were in her laundry last night so that's why she had to wear the 0-3 month size. I think she'll be wearing a lot more 0-3 month clothes within the next two weeks.

She started smiling about a week and a half ago. It is the most beautiful sight!! Josh and I love to make her smile. She is developing her own little personality. She is a lot more content than she used to be. She is still not a big fan of her car seat but we go on walks almost daily because I want her to get used to it. She is focusing a lot on our faces and I feel like she is starting to get to know me.

Claire was a rockstar and slept through the night TWICE last week! On May 28th she slept 6 straight hours and on May 29th she slept 7 straight hours. Amazing! The following two nights were worse than normal so it didn't last of course but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

She is taking a bottle (of breastmilk) now so that gives me some more freedom. On Memorial Day Josh and I had our first date post-baby and Jeff and Annie babysat. We went to dinner (quickly) at Old Chicago. That same week Annie babysat for a couple hours so we could go to our neighborhood garage sales and my mom babysat for a few hours so we could go to Burnsville Center and Applebee's. Last weekend Josh had some one-on-one time with Claire while I had brunch with Amy, Sarah and Pam for Sarah's birthday. I love being able to get out once in awhile.

Claire makes me so happy. Every day with her feels like Christmas. She is the best gift I could ever receive. Every day I look forward to spending time with her, getting to know her more, and showering her with love and affection. I am loving every minute of my maternity leave. It breaks my heart to think about going back to work in 6 weeks. One thing that helps is knowing that she'll be in good, loving hands with Annie doing her childcare. It would be a lot harder to think about leaving her with strangers that don't love her like we love her. Oh, I almost shudder at the thought. I just want the best for her- in everything. I always want to keep her safe, protected, happy, healthy. I know that isn't reality but I am doing the best I can for now!

Okay- Claire will probably be waking up soon so I'm going to get some stuff done. Have a great day!